If your new Apple gadget picks up a fault before its warranty expires, Apple will repair or replace your device for free. No matter how long you’ve had it — whether it’s six months old or just one week — you’ll almost always receive a refurbished model as a replacement.
Unless you live in Korea, where Apple has just introduced the “world’s best” after-sales policy, which will provide customers with brand new devices if theirs become defective within one month.
Apple came under fire from regulators last September when the South Korea Fair Trade Commission demanded it should change the way it handles defective products that are returned within one month to comply with the country’s stringent after-sales policy.
The Cupertino company then changed its policy for the iPhone only, but today it has extended it to cover all products — except the iMac.
Apple states that the guarantee only applies for one month from the date of purchase, but according to The Korea Herald, “a new gadget can be claimed when it is obvious the malfunction is caused by the manufacturer, not the user.”
“Apple confirmed that the renewed policy in Korea is the world’s best level compared to in other countries,” said Kim Chung-ki, a FTC official, at a news conference.
Of course, Apple was forced into making this change by Korean regulators, so there’s no chance we’ll see this policy extended to other countries.
Source: The Korea Herald
Via: TUAW
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
2 responses to “Apple Banishes Refurbished Products In Korea With “World’s Best” After-Sales Policy”
This article is based on a premise which isn’t exactly true. Apple *does* and always has used “refurbished” products as replacements for products which were purchased new but discovered to be faulty. The iPhone is the obvious example.
yes the phone you get after a service visit at the apple store is a refurbished one however much the geniuses try to tell you otherwise! it’s still a good customer service policy so don’t understand why they just don ‘t admit it :-)